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3h ago

Cigarette-Smuggling Balloons From Belarus Temporarily Close Vilnius Airport

Officials say the overnight incursion was cigarette smuggling rather than a security attack.

In this undated photo released by the State Border Guard Service, an officer inspects a balloon used to carry cigarettes into Lithuania, because Belarussian smugglers often use them to ferry the contraband into the European Union (State Border Guard Service via AP)
photo of cigarettes, marlboro, cigarette pack, and grey in Bridgewater, United States by David Trinks

Overview

  • Up to 25 small hot-air balloons entered Lithuanian airspace between about 8:45 p.m. Saturday and 4:30 a.m. Sunday, with two passing over Vilnius Airport.
  • Operations paused for hours, disrupting 30 flights and roughly 6,000 passengers, before resuming at 4:50 a.m. local time.
  • Border police recovered 11 balloons and about 18,000 packs of cigarettes from multiple locations.
  • Lithuanian tallies show 966 such balloons were intercepted last year and 544 have been recorded so far this year as smugglers turn to cheaper balloons over drones.
  • The incident comes as Europe increases scrutiny of airspace violations, following recent Belarus-linked drone incursions in Lithuania and new authority to shoot down unmanned aircraft.